Women spend months of their lives choosing what to wear according to new survey

Damien Lucas

The average woman spends almost five months of her working life choosing what to wear, a study has revealed.

Researchers, who surveyed 2,000 women last month, found deciding what to wear for work, at weekends and for nights out mean women will spend more than an hour a week simply considering their outfits.

Over the average year, that amounts to the equivalent of almost three days - and nearly 20 weeks between the ages of 18 and 65.

It also emerged 45% of women find the process of deciding what to wear to work stressful thanks to fear their outfit will be inappropriate for work.

And more than half claimed they spend so much time worrying about their work outfits they would be better off wearing a uniform so they don’t have to decide.

A spokesman for Simon Jersey, which provides uniforms to more than half a million UK workers and commissioned the research, said: “Many of us have a huge variety of clothes in our wardrobes, and picking what to wear can be a nightmare at the best of times.

“Not only do you have to consider the dress code of where you work, or where you are going, you have to consider whether an outfit is practical for your plans and also whether they will be suitable for the Great British weather.

“Regardless of where you work and what job you do, if you don’t wear a uniform to work, picking the right outfit can be a minefield.

“You don’t want to wear something which is inappropriate or too casual, but at the same time you don’t want to appear over-dressed.

“Over time, it seems many women get around this by developing their own sort suit of uniform, whether it’s by wearing the same clothes on a loop, or keeping their work and personal wardrobes completely separate.”

The study found the average woman will spend more than 12 minutes of each weekday morning choosing what to wear to work that day, and a further 10 minutes picking out clothes at weekends.

On top of that, 55 minutes of each month is spent choosing and trying on outfits for two different nights out.

But for some, these figures could be much higher with half of women worrying about what they are going to wear before getting out of bed in the morning, or even the night before.

And 49% admit they lie awake planning their outfit for their next day at work.

An organised 54% even lay out their clothes the night before to save the last-minute panic in the morning.

A spokesman for Simon Jersey added: “There’s no doubt that a uniform can make mornings easier - whether it’s one we’re given or one that we create based on our fashion preferences and employer’s dress code.”

HOW THEY WORKED IT OUT:

Average woman spends:

*12.53 minutes choosing what to wear to work each day x 5 = 62.65 minutes a week

X48 (48 working weeks a year) = 3,007.2 minutes a year

*10.66 minutes choosing what to wear at the weekend x52 = 554.32 minutes a year

*27.54 minutes choosing what to wear for a night out (2 a month) = 55.08 a month

X12 = 660.96 a year

Total per year = 4222.48 minutes / 60 = 70.37 hours

/24 = 2.93 days

Working lifetime (18-65) = 47 years

2.93 X 47 = 137.71 days

/ 7 = 19.67 weeks

Do some women waste too much time worrying what to wear or is the research one-sided and even sexist?